What is meditation?

[lucybeebee]

I’m confused as to what constitutes meditation in a Catholic sense. I know what the Buddhists mean by meditation, but I’m not sure how to make a Catholic meditation. Any advice anyone has to offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

[LilyM]

Meditation for Catholics seems really to mean simply a process of prolonged and focused consideration of a particular aspect of the faith.

It’s always ‘meditation UPON’ something outside of oneself rather than the Eastern type mediation which seems to aim at either deliberate unfocusedness or on making yourself the focus.

Take an example: if you wanted to ‘meditate upon’ the birth of Christ - you might firstly read the Gospel accounts of His nativity to give you a starting point.

Then you might (I believe St Ignatius of Loyola encouraged this form of meditation) try to put yourself into the scene at Bethlehem as intensely as possible. You might try to imagine exactly what the stable looked like, sounded like, smelled like, what Mary and Joseph might be saying or doing.

You could either imagine the scene as an outside observer or you might actually imagine yourself into the place of Joseph or Mary and try to not just see and do but even to think exactly as they might have done.

You might have an imaginary conversation with them, think of what they might say to you or you to them if you yourself WERE actually there in the stable in Bethlehem.

Then you might step back a bit from simple imagining and actually consider the deeper truths behind the event of Christ’s birth - what does his birth actually mean to you? What difference or changes has His birth made to your life? What sort of response are you inspired to make in the face of the events in Bethlehem?

Then you might end by bringing your reflections to Him in prayer, simply seeking to understand them maybe, maybe resolving to do something particular as a response.

I’m going off the top of my head here, and perhaps leaning more towards St Iggy’s style of meditation, with which I’m more familiar, than any other. But hopefully this will give you a concrete idea of the sorts of things that might be involved in Catholic meditation.

Hope this helps!

 

[JimR-OCDS]

I’m confused as to what constitutes meditation in a Catholic sense. I know what the Buddhists mean by meditation, but I’m not sure how to make a Catholic meditation. Any advice anyone has to offer would be greatly appreciated.

There are two different forms of meditation in the Catholic Church,
discursive meditation, and contemplative prayer.

Discursive meditation, is where we read a gospel story and reflect on it. Like when we pray the Rosary, and we mediate on the mysteries.

Contempatlive prayer, or mental prayer as St. Teresa of Avila called it, is where we place ourselves in the presence of God, who dwels within us. We turn to him in silence and without creating mental images of Him. We rest in his arms, in a loving embrace and be. We allow Him to bring us closer to Himself, while we merely open ourselves up to Him.

Hope this answers your question.

Jim

 

[johnco]

hi,

fr. thomas dubay,s book “fire within” explains meditation and contemplation perfectly.

give it a try.

God bless,

johnco

 

[Scanner]

I’ll let you know - I just ordered a book on How to Meditate.

Apparently, meditation exists somewhere between religion and science and it about trying to clear your mind vs. focus. I don’t think it’s about trying to “problem-solve” but rather empty your mind and calm it and the body it’s connected to.

It’s something I think I need, especially in today’s world with the “internet” busying our minds constantly.

 

[Debra_C]

There are many methods of meditation, actually. Virtually any contemplative prayer method would be considered meditation. The Rosary (complete with contemplation of the Mysteries) is a meditation. Lectio Divina is a form of meditation on Scripture. Silent adoration in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament can be a good form of meditation, too. You should be cautious, hovwever, about the Buddhist methodology of trying to empty your mind of everything. It is important to create an environment for yourself in your meditation that keeps things centered on Christ, rather than a mysterious void which could leave you open to virtually any sort of spirit.

 

[danonwaveland]

You should be cautious, hovwever, about the Buddhist methodology of trying to empty your mind of everything. It is important to create an environment for yourself in your meditation that keeps things centered on Christ, rather than a mysterious void which could leave you open to virtually any sort of spirit.

Yes, absolutely!

 

[Scanner]

Well, I just devoured the book “How to Meditate” and thought I’d get back to you.

It’s not a Catholic interpretation but there are 3 phases of meditation:

Relaxation: relaxing the bodies muscles to keep the mind clear of distraction:
Interiorization: drawing yourself inward and creating focus
Expansion: an attempt to reach out and experience the joy of God, almost a “de-focusing”

These steps are to be done in a single session of meditation.

I think most people at the forum would have been very pleased by the book.

I only found one part “anti-Catholic” and that was the authors assertion that there are many paths to God during interiorization. I assume most here would find that thought offensive/wrong.

Other than that, he recommending appealing to Christ, in fact, focusing on his kindly gaze or a saint’s gaze. He recommending chanting, whether Gregorian or Eastern, even saying, “Amen.”

He quotes Jesus quite often in the book.

He also makes the assertion that to focus on the fact that God is a close friend vs. bieng an indiscrimate beggar asking God for something.

I do agree thought that the Catholic meaning of meditate is probably different, closer to devotion, which he talks about a bit too.

 

[Basia]

There is a very nice article on mediation at Catholic Rosaries. This talks about the mediation as it relates to the Holy Rosary but it’s applicable to any Catholic prayer.

 

[Basia]

There is a very nice article on mediation at www.heavenlyrosaries.com It talks about the mediation as it relates to the Holy Rosary but it’s applicable to any Catholic prayer.

 

[puzzleannie]

since OP specifically asked about Christian meditation I would advise ignoring and books or practices that are not soundly based in solid Christian spirituality as unhelpful, certainly a waste of good prayer time, and possibly dangerous.

I can’t do better than the definition of mental prayer offered by Teresa of Jesus

for mental prayer (her term for meditation and all prayer that precedes infused contemplation) in my opinion is nothing else than an intimate sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with Him who we know loves us . . . And if you do not yet love Him as He loves you because you have not reached the degree of conformity with His will, you will endure this pain of spending a long while with one who is so different from you when you see how much it benefits you to possess His firendship and how much He loves you.

meditation is the deliberate effort to be alone and in intimate communication with God, without recourse to recited prayer, although the period of meditation may profitably be preceded by recited prayer.